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SuperUnited R&B 2023 Day 1: Vishy Anand emerges early sole leader

by Shahid Ahmed - 06/07/2023

Vishy Anand continues his great form from Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. He scored an impressive 5/6 on the first day of Grand Chess Tour SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz 2023. After starting with a solid draw against Alireza Firouzja (FRA), the maestro defeated the Romanian players - Richard Rapport and Constantin Lupulescu. The legend is now in sole lead. D Gukesh did not have the ideal start. He lost to Magnus Carlsen (NOR) and then recovered well by sharing points against Ian Nepomniachtchi and Firouzja. Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) and Rapport are in pursuit at 4/6 each. Round 4 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Carlsen, Duda and Rapport at 4/6

Firouzja, Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh, all three are at the same score 2/6.

Vishy Anand is in great form

Round 1: Gukesh - Carlsen: 0-2

D Gukesh (2629) has played Classical and Blitz rated games against Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2829). However, he has never played a rated Rapid game against the world no.1.

Position after 22.Qc2

20.Rc3 gave Black a clear positional advantage. He went 20...f5 although computer recommends fxe5 making an attempt to open up the bishop's path. 21.Bg5 f4 22.Qc2? turned things completely in Black's favor h6 23.Bh4 e3 24.Qg6 Qd7 25.Rec1 Bxb3 26.axb3 Qxd4 and Black won the game in another ten moves.

Gukesh vs Magnus Carlsen | Superunited Rapid 2023 - Analysis by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India
Carlsen: Gukesh will strike back | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Gukesh did not have the perfect start, however, Carlsen believing in him makes a lot of difference

Ian Nepomniachtchi - Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL): 0-2

Rapport - Caruana

Position after 61.Kh3!

The creative genius Richard Rapport (ROU, 2761) played 61.Kh3! There is a nice trick. Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2752) was caught off guard. He did not see the trick, blundered 61...Be7 and lost the game after 62.Kg4. Find out what Black should have done instead.

Anand - Rapport, Round 2

Position after 17...Rac8

Richard Rapport casually sacrificed his b7-pawn 17...Rac8 18.Qxb7 Ned5 19.Bd2 Rb8 20.Nc4 Qd8 Black dropped another pawn. 21.Qxa7 Ra8 22.Qb7 Rb8 23.Qa6 Bb5 24.Qd6 Qc8 25.Qc5 White ensured that he keeps two split passed pawns on the queenside. Black never got any compensation for the lost pawns and White went on to win the game.

Amazing Vishy Anand beats Rapport - analysis by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India
Anand: Global Chess League was very useful to me | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Round 2: Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) - Alireza Firouzja (FRA): 2-0

Carlsen - Saric

Position after 31...Be6??

Find out the winning continuation for White which Magnus Carlsen missed against Ivan Saric (CRO, 2635) after 31...Be6??

The expression that says - I messed up a win

D Gukesh - Ian Nepomniachtchi: 1-1

Fabiano Caruana (USA) won a back and forth battle against Constantin Lupulescu (ROU)

Lupulescu - Anand, Round 3

Position after 29...Rc4

Should White take the knight first and then go Ra2 or play Ra2 directly? Only one of them is correct. Constantin Lupulescu (ROU, 2572) made an incorrect decision and went on to lose the game.

Alireza Firouzja (FRA) - D Gukesh: 1-1

We have to wait a little longer to see a decisive Nepomniachtchi-Carlsen game

Photo Gallery

Garry Kasparov before making the symbolic first move on Firouzja-Anand's board

A kid high-fives Magnus Carlsen

Round 1 in progress

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen share a light moment after their game

Will King Carlsen win his second consecutive GCT R&B event of the season?

Jan-Krzysztof Duda fans

Fans with their very own Croatia no.1 Ivan Saric

Audience view of Round 3

SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz 2023 champion's trophy
Replay Superbet Rapid and Blitz Day 1 Live commentary by Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Highlights of Day 1

Replay Superbet Rapid and Blitz Day 1 Live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Evgenij Miroshnichenko, Cristian Chirila, IM Nazi Paikidze and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Rapid Round 1-3 games

Round 3 results

Bo.No.Rtg NameResultName RtgNo.PGN
122760
GMNepomniachtchi, Ian½ - ½GMCarlsen, Magnus
282910PGN
232745
GMFirouzja, Alireza½ - ½GMGukesh, D
26291PGN
342761
GMRapport, Richard1 - 0GMDuda, Jan-Krzysztof
27949PGN
452572
GMLupulescu, Constantin0 - 1GMAnand, Viswanathan
27318PGN
562635
GMSaric, Ivan½ - ½GMCaruana, Fabiano
27527PGN

Details

Standings after Rapid Round 3

Vishy Anand has gained an early sole lead 5/6 | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Round 4 pairings

Bo.No.Rtg NameResultName RtgNo.PGN
1102829
GMCarlsen, MagnusGMCaruana, Fabiano
27527
282731
GMAnand, ViswanathanGMSaric, Ivan
26356
392794
GMDuda, Jan-KrzysztofGMLupulescu, Constantin
25725
412629
GMGukesh, DGMRapport, Richard
27614
522760
GMNepomniachtchi, IanGMFirouzja, Alireza
27453

Details

Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023 schedule | Source: Official site

Prize

The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 175000 with the first prize being US$ 40000.

Prize details | Source: Official site

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations


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